Monday, June 14, 2004

Checking In

I have about six inches knitted and the next thing I need to do is decide how long I want my top - Never, Never just knit it the length specified in the pattern!

Pull something out of your closet that is the length you would like your T-Top to be. Measure from the bottom of the armhole to the hem - this is the length you will knit NOT the length specified in the pattern. Note - this may cause you to use MORE or LESS yarn depending on how your sweater is going to differ from the pattern.

If I were to knit the length given for my size, the bottom will be about four inches below my waist because I am very short waisted - there is no right or wrong length - it is just a good time to THINK about what length you want :-)

11 Comments:

I really like this T-Top. Finished my daughter's top Sunday afternoon, (she worn it yesterday). I had originally intended the first one to be mine but it was a little snug for this old gal. So I started the second top yesterday (out of her yarn) for myself in a size larger. That should work just fine. I'm using Lion brand cotton-ease, and am satified with it. though it seems to give just a little the longer she wears it.I've ordered the yarn specified in the pattern and am anxious to work that when it arrives....

i WILL cast it on today or tonight...but.. i really dislike counting. so castng on is ALL i will do then get tired of it and pick up something else. tomorrow i'll start the pattern. i'm using an unknown superwash wool in a palest of pinks with some itty bitty slubbing..just a hint so i get turquiose, orange, red and i think a green hint here and there.

You Go Girl! I don't like counting either - that is why I cast on with the crocheted chain - it is waaaay easier to count crocheting as I go and then do a more formal count as I knit the first row (see post on Casting On :-)

coooooooooool...i'm so glad i posted my inablity to move beyond the boredom...i think that would be a much better option for me..to do the crochet cast on...

after i posted tho i was rereading the short row saga and back tugging on tops. makes me crazy and this is something i never would have thought of to help the issue. which, of course, brought questions to mind..i hit some other web pages on short rows. but i don't recall seeing anything on how many to do..or how far into the back i do each side.

how do you determine your personal pref when you've never done thta before?!?

I got quite a bit done yesterday, b/c the plumber was here, so I sat and knitted while they were in the bathroom. It's starting to look like a top, now. :-) I'm using LB Cotton Ease, which is soft and light, but every so often a stitch will untwist and separate into plies. Kind of annoying, but overall it looks pretty good (and it's so soft and squishy). The one thing I'm concerned about, though, is that the lapel is formed by ironing the front down. Since Cotton Ease has a considerable amount of acrylic (50/50), I'm wondering if I'll have to think of a different method for getting the front to stay down. Maybe I'll need to tack it down with a couple of stitches or something.

On a different note, I've been having trouble posting comments, b/c everytime I click on anything, I get code. So, today I thought I'd try using IE instead of Netscape (which is what I usually use). Now, I can see everything fine. It doesn't come up in code.

How many short rows to do...measure how many rows per inch your gauge is giving you and then decide how much longer you want the back of your top to be. That is, if your row gauge is 4 rows to the inch and you want your back to be two inches longer, add 8 short rows.

I usually start at the side and move a few stitches toward the middle each time I turn (two or four or whatever your personal favorite number is :-)

I have about an inch and a half done on mine. Using Katrina from Patons.Tanys, I hate counting, too, so I used the little colored rubber bands (for your hair - they're really tiny, and I found them at the dollar store) and put one every 20 stitches. That way it is easy to recount if (WHEN! lol) I lose my place. Then when I knit my first row, I just took them off as I went along.

Markers are my favorite notion - I keep piles of them by my inside chair, my outside chair, and a little ziplock full in my purse. I used different colored ones (or two together) to mark the beginning of the round and to mark individual sections of my knitting. On the T-Top I have a thick black one to mark the beginning of the round and a thinner blue plastic one to mark the opposite side seam.

They act as a little reminder to my fingers that "something" is going on there.

I did it I have finished the 2d T-Top. When I told my daughter I wanted to make this T-Top, she challenged me to get them finished in time to wear the 4th of July. I have knitted every spare minute since.... I did it! I wore mine to a ballgame (little league play-offs) Friday. I am completely satified with the Cotton-ease( it feels good on the skin) as well as the tinkering I did to the pattern. I added short rows in the bust area, and brought the bottom of the V-neck up just a little. Since the first one was a little low in the neck for dd, I closed the neck up about 1", added 7 6mm round beads in same color, it looks really nice. I still want to make one from the Ornaghi Giglio if it ever arrives.